1. Field
The invention generally relates to medical devices and procedures, and more particularly to bodily implants and their delivery and placement into a patient's body for the treatment of fecal incontinence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fecal incontinence is a disorder that involves involuntary passage of feces through an anal canal. The disorder may be caused by the weakness or damage of the internal and external anal sphincter muscles or the levator ani muscles surrounding the anal canal in a human body. The internal and external sphincters and levator ani muscles support a rectum and provide the rectum an ano-rectal angle. The ano-rectal angle sustains feces in the rectum until voluntary defecation relaxes the puborectalis muscle and straightens the angle, allowing the feces to move towards an anus of the human body.
A variety of procedures are performed, including surgical and non-surgical techniques, to treat various disorders and damages of the internal and external anal sphincter muscles or the levator ani muscles surrounding the anal canal. One of the surgical treatments includes a sling procedure involving an implant or bodily implants such as slings into a patient's body around the anal canal. New kinds of synthetic materials for the slings and procedures for their implant have been used in the past few years.
Depending on the particular condition of fecal incontinence to be treated and the kind of devices used for surgery, slings may be placed at various specific anatomical locations surrounding the rectum or anal canal. Accordingly, incisions are made for puncturing the skin to deliver the sling inside the body tissues. The existing sling procedures involve implantation using multiple incisions such as three, four or even more. Delivery of some slings includes perineal or vaginal incisions as well.
Various complications can occur during a surgical sling procedure to deliver and secure the sling around the rectum through multiple incisions and specifically around a fragile area near the perineum and vagina. Dissection of the fragile area through multiple incisions may damage the surrounding parts and may even result in severe post-surgery complications leading to even removal or replacement of the sling.
In addition, the currently available designs of slings and their placement for the treatment of anal incontinence may find difficulties in their engagement and proper tensioning with the body tissues.
In accordance with the foregoing, there is a need for devices and methods for facilitating delivery and placement of the slings around the anal canal for the treatment of fecal incontinence.